Fostering scientists' data sharing behaviors via data repositories, journal supplements, and personal communication methods

The purpose of this study is to examine how institutional pressures, individual motivations, and resources all affect scientists' diverse data sharing behaviors, including (a) making data accessible through data repositories, (b) submitting data as journal supplements, and (c) providing data via personal communication methods upon request. A combined theoretical framework integrating institutional theory and theory of planned behavior was used to create a research model which presents how scientists make the decision to share data in diverse ways, and how the data sharing factors differ across diverse data sharing behaviors. A survey method was employed to evaluate the research model by using multivariate regression analysis technique with a total of 2172 survey responses in the U.S. The results of this research show the dynamic relationships between diverse data sharing factors and different forms of data sharing behaviors. For data sharing via data repository, journal pressure, perceived effort, and availability of data repositories are significant factors; for data sharing through journal supplement, journal pressure, perceived career benefit, perceived effort, and availability of data repository are significant factors; for personal data sharing, funding agency pressure, normative pressure, perceived career risk, perceived effort, and availability of data repositories are significant factors. This research suggests that funding agencies, journal publishers, and scientific communities that different strategies need to be employed to promote different forms of data sharing behaviors.